Lens cover for telescopic sight



SEARCH hUUH Feb. 11, 1969 H. B. ANDERSON LENS COVER FOR TELESCOPIC SIGHT Filed March 30, 1966 INVENT OR. A 5 ANDERSON ATTOQNEY United States Patent 3,426,433 LENS COVER FOR TELESCOPIC SIGHT Harvey B. Anderson, 1203 Broadway, Yakima, Wash. 98902 Filed Mar. 30, 1966, Ser. No. 538,722 US. Cl. 33-50 Int. Cl. F41g 1/38, 1/42; G03b 11/04 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A pair of plastic caps are manually wedged within sleeves frictionally fitting over the front and rear ends of a telescopic gun sight. The caps are connected by a string in such a manner that they may be readily dislodged by merely tensioning the string with a finger, thereby opening opposite ends of the telescopic sight for use.

Background of the invention Summary of the invention It is an object of the present invention to provide a device for covering the opposite ends of a telescopic rifle sight which may be actuated by a simple manual movement to quickly and simultaneously uncover the sight ends.

Another object is to provide such a device which consists of relatively few parts which can be inexpensively made of plastic so as to be light in weight and permit the entire device to be profitably sold at a price which is low compared with what is asked for prior devices offered for the same purpose.

A further object is to provide such a device in which sleeves are provided which fit over opposite end portions of the sight, cover discs are friction pressed into the outer ends of said sleeves, said discs being connected by a string, pulling on which displaces said discs from said sleeves and from covering relation with the ends of said sight.

Brief description of the drawing FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a telescopic rifle sight equipped with the preferred embodiment of the present invention and with the covering discs of said device in position to cover opposite ends of said sight.

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 and illustrates the manual operation of the aforesaid device of the invention to dispose said covering discs away from covering relation with the ends of said sight.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged end elevational view of FIG. 1 taken in the direction of the arrow 3.

FIG. 4 is a diameteral cross-sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a modified form of the closure disc of the invention.

Description of the preferred embodiment Referring specifically to the drawings, and particularly to FIGS 1 and 2, the invention is seen to comprise a device 10 which is associated with a telescopic rifle sight 11 for covering opposite ends of said sight and which is readily operative to quickly uncover said sight ends.

The sight 11 comprises a tubular body 12 which is provided with suitable means 13 for mounting the same on the barrel of a rifle (not shown) which means are conventional in the art and therefore are not shown in detail herein. Opposite ends of the body 12 are provided with concentrically enlarged tubular lens housings 13 and 114 in which the lenses at the opposite end of the ends of the sight 11 are mounted, one of these lenses 15 being shown in FIG. 4. The body 12 and lens housings are cylindrical and the lenses mounted therein are set back a suflicient distance from the outer ends of these housings to protect said lenses from damage and from excessive exposure to the light.

The device 10 of the invention includes two sleeves 16 and 17, one of which snugly fits the outer end portion of the lens housing 13 and the other of which snugly [fits the outer end portion of the lens housing 14. The rifle sight 11 shown in the drawings is of the type in which the lens housings 13 and 14 have the same outside diameter and the sleeves 16 and 17 are therefore identical in construction. Where the device 10 is provided for a rifle sight 11 in which the lens housings at opposite ends of the sight differ in outside diameter the sleeves 16 and 17 are made of different inside diameters so as to snugly fit respectively the lens housings of the sight. In other respects than this variation in size, so as to fit the lens housings of the right, the sleeves 16 and 17 are structurally alike.

Each of the sleeves 16 and 17 has an internal bore 18 which snugly fits the lens housing on which said sleeve is provided to be mounted so that said sleeve may be slipped over the outer end portion of said lens housing so as to be frictionally held in place thereon. Each sleeve has an internal annular rib 119 which acts as a stop to engage the outer end of a lens housing when one of said sleeves is pressed onto the latter. The rib 19 of each sleeve is disposed a slight distance inwardly from the outer end of said sleeve, and a short bore 20 which is concentric with and of the same diameter as bore 18 extends from said rib to the outer end of said sleeve.

Formed on the outer end of each sleeve and extending radially inwardly therefrom in spaced relation with an adjacent portion of the annular rib 19 is a disc retaining lip 25. At a point diametrically opposite the location of the lip 25, each sleeve is provided with a short mast 26 which extends in an endwise direction outwardly beyond the end of said sleeve and has an arcuate notch 27 provided in the tip thereof. The mast 26 and the adjacent portion of the sleeve on which said mast is formed are provided internally with a disc wedging boss 28 which is quite shallow in its radial dimension and extends from the tip of the mast 26 to the annular rib 19 so as to form an inclined inner surface 29 for a purpose to be made clear hereinafter. Lying in the same diametral plane as the lug 25 and the mast 26 and extending radially externally from the sleeve being dwcribed and spaced longitudinally from the mast 26, and on the same side of the sleeve as said mast, is a boss 30 provided with an axial hole 31.

When pressing the sleeves 16 and 17 on the lens housings 13 and 14 respectively, this is done so as to locate the diametral planes containing the lugs 25 and masts 26 horizontally and with the bosses 30 on the same side of the rifle sight 11 on which the device is mounted.

The device 10 also includes cover discs 32 and 33 which are provided to fit respectively into the bores of the sleeves 16 and 17 so as to snugly fit, in each instance, as shown in FIG. 4, between the portion of the bore 20 under the disc retaining lip on one side of the sleeve and the disc wedging boss 28 on the opposite side of the sleeve. Each of these discs has a hole 34 near one edge and when the disc is inserted in place in its respective sleeve, this hole is placed in the horizontal diametral plane aforesaid and adjacent to the mast 26 of said sleeve.

The device 10 also includes an operating string 35, opposite end portions of which are threaded through the holes 31 in bosses and are then threaded respectively through the string holes 34 in the discs 32 and 33 and knots are tied in opposite ends of said string. These knots are so positioned on the string that when the two discs 32 and 33 are pressed into their respective sleeves 16 and 17 as shown in FIG. 4, the portion of the string 35 located between the bosses 30 is fairly taut.

It is clear, of course, that the discs 32 and 33, when thus wedged into the sleeves 16 and 17 at opposite ends of the sight 11, effectively cover the ends of the sight and protect the lenses thereof from becoming blurred by dust or moisture.

When the device 10 is thus mounted on the sight 11 it appears as shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings. Inasmuch as the plane in which the string 35 lies is horizontal and on one side or the other of the sight 11, depending upon whether the owner of the rifle is right-handed or lefthanded, and inasmuch as the string is taut at this time, it is manifest that the device 10 is adapted to be actuated by the rifleman in a fraction of a second, and either before he assumes a firing position with the rifie equipped with such sight or after he assumes this position, by engaging the string 35 with a finger of one hand as shown in FIG. 2 and tensioning said string so as to pull the discs 32 and 33 from their respective lodgement in the outer ends of the sleeves 16 and 17 and causing these discs to drop by gravity as shown in FIG. 2 into positions where they are away from in front of the opposite ends of the sight 11.

After using the rifle, the replacing of the discs 32 and 33 in the outer ends of the sleeves 16 and 17 is a simple matter and by virtue of the wedged reception of the discs within the sleeves provided by the disc wedging bosses 8 these discs will remain in place against accidental dislodgement until the device is deliberately actuated by engaging the string 35 as shown in FIG. 2, thereby dislodging the discs from covering relation with the outer ends of the sight 11.

Referring now to FIG. 5, a modified form of disc is here illustrated which is adapted to be used alternately with the discs 32 and 33 previously described. The disc 45 is of the same outside diameter as the disc 32 or 33 which it replaces, and is provided with a deep scoring cut 46 which preferably is closer to one side of the disc than the other and partially cuts through the material of the disc so that the two portions into which the disc 45 is thus divided freely hinge relative to each other about the unsevered portion of the disc adjacent said scoring cut. Furthermore, the disc 45 has a string hole 47 which is located in the smaller of the two portions into which the disc is divided by scoring cut 46 and preferably closer to said scoring cut than it is to the adjacent edge of the disc. This string hole is made to receive the string 35 in the same manner as the string holes 34 provided in discs 32 and 33.

When installing a disc 45 in the device 10 it is secured on one of the ends of the string 35 in the same manner as one of the discs 32 and 33, but care is always taken to thread the string through the hole 47 from the side of the disc 45 having scoring cut 46 and then, of course, insert the disc 45 in its sleeve (16 or 17) so that the scoring cut 46 is disposed outwardly. When this is done, the pressure forces applied to the diametrically opposite peripheral portions of the disc, as indicated by arrows 48 and 49, when the disc is wedged in place between the portion of the bore adjacent the lip 25 and the disc wedging boss 28, will hold the disc compressed together in flat condition by pressing the faces of the scoring cut 46 together as shown in FIG. 5.

When the device 10 is equipped with discs 45 and these discs are inserted in the respective sleeves 16 and 17 as above described, the application of tension to the string 35 :as shown in FIG. 2 pulls outwardly on the discs 45 at the location of the string holes 47 which causes each disc 45 to buckle outwardly, the uncut material opposite the scoring cut 46 forming a hinge and thus facilitating the withdrawal of the discs 45 from the sleeves in which they are respectively mounted.

. The sleeves 16 and 17 and discs 32, 33 and 45 of the device 10 are preferably jet molded of a suitable plastic material as this is light, inexpensive, and may be molded into a high finish well within the tolerances required for long and satisfactory operation of the device.

What is claimed is:

1. In a lens cover for a tubular telescopic sight, the combination of: sleeves snugly fitting over end portions of said sight; cover discs fitting outer end portions of said sleeves and frictionally engaging the latter to hold said discs in covering relation with opposite ends of said sight; and a string connected at its opposite ends to said discs and passing around outer edges of said sleeves whereby pulling transversely on said string between said sleeves displaces said discs from covering relation with said sight ends.

2. A device as recited in claim 1 wherein an axially apertured boss is provided externally on the periphery of each of said sleeves, said bosses being axially aligned and said string ends extending through the apertures in said bosses and then around the outer edges of said sleeves and inwardly into suitable connected relation with said discs.

3. A device as recited in claim 2 wherein a mast is provided on each sleeve in radial alignment with the boss thereof and extending axially outwardly from the outer edge of said sleeve whereby said string passes over said mast on its way from said boss to its connection with the adjacent cover disc, thereby causing substantial axial outward component forces to be applied to said discs when said string is tensioned as aforesaid, said forces displacing said discs from their covering relation with the opposite ends of said sight whereupon said discs are free to hang by gravity from said string ends completely out of covering relation with said ends of said sight.

4. A device as recited in claim 3 wherein an annular rib is provided internally in each sleeve to provide a stop limiting the distance said disc may be inserted axially into outer ends of said sleeves; a short lip extending radially inwardly from each sleeve and spaced outwardly from said annular rib at a point diametrically opposite said mast so as to trap an edge of a disc inserted between said lip and said rib; and wedge pressure faces formed internally in end portions of said sleeves inside said masts and diametrically across from said lips whereby said discs, after being slipped between said annular ribs and said lips, are pressed inwardly into outer ends of said sleeves, said discs are snugly received between said pressure faces and the opposite sides of the sleeves so as to frictionally hold said discs within said sleeves.

5. A device as recited in claim 1 wherein each of said cover discs is formed of a semi-rigid but resilient plastic material and is provided in its outer face with a transverse scoring cut which almost completely severs the disc but leaves a thin web along the inner face of the disc which hingedly connects the two portions on oppo- 5 6 site sides of said cut, whereby, when said string pulls 2,782,510 2/1957 Kramm. outwardly on one of said disc portions, the disc bends about said hinge web and is thus readily withdrawn from FOREIGN PATENTS its associated sleeve. 317,188 1 1919 y- 5 1,151 3/1907 Great Britain. References Cited R BER ULL E UNITED STATES PATENTS O T B. H Przmary xamlner. 2,657,465 11/ 1953 Lloyd. US. Cl. X.R. 2,696,672 12/1954 Durfee. 

